There is always a debate going on amongst webmasters as to whether or not the various types of links we acquire have any impact on our rankings. How much is this type weighted, does this one carry the day, and so on. What’s hot now is always a matter of part speculation and part testing, but there are some patterns that emerge that we can take as pretty good indicators that a certain type of backlink is worth pursuing or not. Let’s look at the current state of affairs, as best as we can divine it!

First off, there are MANY sources of backlinks you can get for your sites. You can get them from articles, blog posts, directories, RSS feeds, Web 2.0 sites, videos, podcasts, software, themes or templates, news sites, blog networks, blog comments, video responses, social bookmarking, social networks, affiliates, forum signatures, forum profiles, guest books, trackbacks, and many more I’m just not thinking of at the moment! Yes, some of them are more valuable than others. You’ll also hear terms like follow and nofollow, .edu and .org links, comment spam, and more. These also have a place in our world.

Bottom line: a link is a link. Get as many as you can, avoid bad neighborhoods, such as porn sites or gambling, big pharma, and a couple of others Google dislikes. Don’t obsess about follow and nofollow; a balanced link profile will have some of each —  it’s only natural. Do try and get follow links from sites with high page rank if possible. Contextual links are weighted heavier than blogroll, sidebar and footer links, and especially link pages. Don’t buy links from text link sellers: this is not only expensive, but it’s also not permanent. You stop paying, it goes away, not to mention that if Google finds out, you’re penalized.

If you are commenting on blogs, leave quality, valuable comments that contribute to the discussion. For example, .edu links are a good thing, while .org links maybe not so much anymore. Make sure, if at all possible, to make sure you are promoting your promoters. This means throwing bookmarks or other links at the pages that are linking to you. This helps them get found, and thus count for you as well.

Remember that things change. What’s working today may not work tomorrow, and link building is something you will always be engaged in, so get used to it! Outsourcing it can alleviate some of the pain! (Hint, hint!)

Links. You hear marketers and webmasters talk and bemoan their lack of them, and the naked truth is they’re right to be concerned. Links are the lifeblood and currency of the Web, and without them your site will meet an ignominious end, with not a visitor in sight, never mind enjoying the boundless traffic streams we all seek. Here are some thoughts about issues connected to links, and the current thinking about them.

Number of Links – All other things being relatively equal, he who has the most links wins. This has been the way of the Web for some time now, and with a few exceptions, is the best way to rank high in organic results and have your site’s popularity reflected by a large number of backlinks.

Types of Backlinks – There a lot of places where you can get links to your sites. This includes, but is not limited to, other sites and blogs, blog and video comments, articles and website directories, video and photo sharing sites, forums, guestbooks, ebooks and other published material on the web, and many more.

Buying Links -This is one activity that is very much frowned upon by Google and will get your site penalized if you are found out. While there is a truism that you can’t be penalized for something you have no control over, like who links to your site, Google is getting smarter all the time and will find you out. There are a number of ways to get around this, but that is a topic for another day, wearing a hat of another color!

Automatic Backlinks -Using software to generate a large number of backlinks to your sites is a risky activity. While this can return a large number very quickly and easily, it can also leave a footprint if you don’t know what you’re doing. This is definitely a roll of the dice!

Follow or NoFollow? – While no-follow links do not pass page rank to your site, the current thinking  is that they do count as links, and there is quantifiable evidence that they can help you in the SERPs. A follow link is preferred, but a link is a link, and a natural link profile will necessarily contain many no-follow links. My advice: don’t sweat it either way. Just build links, and let the rankings fall where they may!

Outsourcing Your LinkBuilding - Building links is back breaking, monotonous work, and most webmasters tire of it after a few hours, which nets them a dozen links or so. This is a task that must be done and you can either have a person from your staff assigned to it or outsource the job. There are outsourcers who can do this far better than you, and for not very much money as well!

However you choose to do it, get it done! Your business depends on it!

Know what a trackback is? Ninety-five out of a hundred webmasters have probably heard the term, but couldn’t tell you what it is. Since it is a relatively new phenomenon, let’s take a quick look at what they are and why you need to get (and give) as many of them as possible!

A trackback is simply an  automated method for notifying another blog that you have linked to it. You input your trackback URL and the blogging software takes care of the rest. WordPress then “pings” the other blog, letting them know you’ve linked to them, and  then attaches a link to your site so they can see where this link is. This all takes place  in the comments section of your blog, automatically, without any interaction from you or the bog you are linking to.

To ensure that you get people reading what you’ve posted, you need to make sure to write a catchy headline, as this is your ammunition to get people to click back to your blog. Also, remember to ReTweet, Stumble, Digg, and otherwise social bookmark the post you’re linking to. This can only help both their blog as well as yours, as your link now resides there!

Think about the reasons why you might want to do this. Say you linked to a high traffic blog, like Mashable or Techcrunch. You may receive a nice influx of traffic from that trackback link. Also, this is a terrific way to begin forging relationships with other bloggers. Once they see you linking to them, they will be far more likely to link back to you, or at least come visit your blog. You never know where this can lead. Most bloggers love to be mentioned (much less read!) and this very often results in nice results for you.

Other reasons include the link love you’ll receive from Google if any “follow” links are found to your blog. Many bloggers have the “no-follow” attribute turned on to try and prevent page rank bleeding, but many don’t, and these are seeking to advance the conversation — or they simply haven’t been spammed enough!)

Using trackbacks is an easy way to get some links and traffic. Make sure to use them wisely!

By this time, you’ve probably got it that you need a boatload of backlinks to capture top rankings for your chosen keywords in Google or the other search engines. While that is true, there are still a number of backlinks you would do well to do without. If you’re found with a number of these on your site, there could be some ugly consequences, so you’ll always want to be periodically taking a peek to see who’s linking to you, and if you spot some of these nefarious link monsters, you can give them the treatment!

So just who are these rotten apples? Here are a few!

• Bad Neighborhoods – Links from porn sites, gambling, and pharmaceuticals are high on Google’s hit list. Many times you don’t even know you’ve got them, especially if you’re not monitoring comments. This will get your site penalized.
• Spam Comments and Trackbacks – Many times you’ll find spammy Viagra links and links to Russian porn (in Russian, no less!) trying to sneak into comments and trackbacks. Shoot on sight! Especially trackbacks, as they are more indicative of a reciprocal deal here.
• Reciprocal Links – Speaking of these, they won’t necessarily harm your ranking, but they will not help you at all, unless you can find a PR 6 site willing to link to your PR 0 blog! Generally, they just cancel each other out. A waste of time from days gone by.
• Paid Links – Another big Google no-no! While you may get away with this for awhile, sooner or later you’ll be discovered and dumped from the index.
• No Follow Links - Again, under the category of a waste of time. The search engines won’t credit or follow the links (generally), so spend your time trying to acquire follow incoming links. You’ll get enough no-follow naturally in the course of things.
• Link Farms – This would be those link pages you see that have hundreds of extremely diverse links on them. Not much value there, wouldn’t you say?!?
• Dynamic Directory Pages - Some web directories generate your link dynamically from a database. It’s entirely likely the search engines will never find it. You can do better.
• MFA Sites – A link from a made for Adsense site is a link from a page that has little value in Google’s eyes. Avoid them.

While I know that link building is an onerous task, you’ll be far better off avoiding these links. Word to the wise!

Here are two items in regards to linking that you may not have given thought to, but perhaps should: Link Profiles and Link Velocity. So just what the heck are they?

A Link Profile is what your links look like when examined more closely. (As a search engine is apt to do!) If you have only one type of link, say hundreds or thousands of blog comments, and little to no other links from any other type of site, such as blogs, Web 2.0 sites, videos, web directories, article directories, social bookmarks and social networking sites, then it can reasonably be assumed that they were not acquired naturally, and you may find yourself penalized. Strive to acquire a mix of the aforementioned types of links, and do it over time, consistently.

Which brings us to the next term, Link Velocity, which is the rate at which you get incoming links to your site. Having a large influx of links, such as when you have a blog post or video go viral, will not usually be a problem. But when you have a pattern of getting a few thousand links in a day or two, and then no other activity for weeks or months, and then another spurt, it does not appear as if you are being linked to naturally. (And you very likely aren’t!)

The bottom line is to be consistent not only in your posting on your blog, but also in your link building and promotion. Build it slow or fast, but build it consistently, and everyone wins!

Ever since Google introduced the concept of follow and nofollow attributes to linking, there has been a lot of confusion as to what exactly they are and what are the best practices considering them. Let’s sort it out a bit.

The nofollow tag was created to prevent spammers from taking over the world. (Or at least your blog comments) So, how’s that working for you, search engines? It was a noble idea, but  ultimately it hurts the real essence of the Web, which is to have relevant links spreading around. Other software solutions, such as Akismet, can handle a lot of the spam issues, but it seems as if making nofollow a default, (which many of the latest versions of blogging software do) is overkill. A good blog is moderated, thoughtful, insightful and comments should be encouraged and rewarded.

You have some choices to make then, when it comes to how you acquire links and how you tag them on your own blog. Many times a nofollow link from a popular site will bring many visitors. You wouldn’t want to miss out on that! However, getting your share of  incoming links that do pass link juice is obviously preferable. A sane policy would be to shoot for the best and most follow links you can find, and judiciously scrutinize the nofollows. Some may be worth it, others may be spammy, or at best, weak.  It’s why you want to moderate your blogs, so you can not only further the conversation, but also to keep an eye on what’s going on.

It’s a very good idea not to have nofollow on your site internal links. You want the search engines to follow these around your site. You also want each page to link back to the home page. Good places to use the nofollow attribute would be on pages that you don’t care about the page rank, such as your privacy policy, about me page, and term and conditions pages.

While there is a fair amount of debate on whether or not Google follows the nofollow links at all (Yahoo always has), we feel a link is a link and you should try and get as many as you can. If you were to have a link profile  that consisted of nothing but follow, high page rank links, that would be as unnatural as can be. Some count more than others, and  hopefully all will bring a measure of traffic. Just be circumspect about the nofollow links  you collect.